Andretti Autosport chasing fifth straight victory at Iowa Speedway this weekend
Over the past four years, one team has had a strangle hold on the 0.0.875-mile oval in Newton, Iowa, letting their competitors follow them throughout the night. Now heading into this year’s event, Andretti Autosport will be looking for their fifth straight Iowa Speedway victory. Their chances look strong as AA enters the weekend with four drivers that could potentially snatch up the win, with three of those drivers being past winners.
Defending race winner James Hinchcliffe has been fast on the ovals, but has had issues take him out of contention each week. He showed the speed to be a top-five finisher at Indianapolis, however a wreck took him out of contention. He was also quick last week, but found himself finishing in the back half of the top-10 as a result of a speeding peantly. With a average finish of ninth at Iowa, Hinchcliffe will be looking for a good run to carry momentum into his hometown event next weekend in Toronto.
2012 race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will be trying to bounce back this weekend after mechanical issues took the 2012 champion out of the race at Pocono. Hunter-Reay has been strong this year, as witnessed by his Indianapolis 500 victory, though has suffered mechanical problems that have taken him out of the running on multiple ocassions. It seems to be same story, new year as that was what took RHR out of the championship battle last year. If he wants to stay in the battle this year, he badly needs a win if he even wants a chance at catching the Team Penske duo at the top of the standings.
2011 race winner Marco Andretti has been spectacular at Iowa Speedway in the past, scoring four podium finishes in seven Iowa starts. He has also shown speed this year, finishing in the top-five in the Indianapolis 500. Andretti is also known for being stronger on the ovals versus the road/street courses. So could be the weekend that Andretti returns to victory lane?
Notably, in each year that AA has won the race, it has been with a new face in victory lane as Tony Kanaan kicked off the streak in 2010 and was followed by Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe. If the trend is to continue, Carlos Munoz has a good chance at doing it as the young rookie has shown that he can duel with the best of them on the ovals. Munoz impressed everyone by finishing in the top-five at Indianapolis last year in his rookie season. This year, he continues to impress with speed across the board, including another impressive Indianapolis finish. With more laps under his belts to get used to what his car needs to run well and coming off a third place finish at Pocono, is it time for the rookie to shine?
Ryan Preece set to tackle full slate of racing schedule this weekend
While most drivers are preparing for one or two races this weekend, Ryan Preece is taking it a step further as he is set to run four races total in the span of three days. Preece will start off the weekend by running Friday’s Whelen Modified All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire before heading back to Connecticut to run Friday night’s Whelen All-American Series SK Modified race at Stafford Motor Speedway. Then on Saturday, he’ll return to New Hampshire to return the Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco 100 and the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sta-Green 200.
“With four races, that’s four opportunities to run very well,” Preece commented earlier this week. “Right now with the Modified Tour team, we’ve been building up some momentum, and we’ve had two of our best finishes this season the past two races, so I’m hoping to use what we learned in our test and to have a strong car that can win there. I’ve finished third there three times, so to improve that would be really, really good. I’d be happy.
“Also going over to Stafford with our SK Modified, we’re going three races this season with that, we’ve been real strong, and hopefully weather doesn’t come in, which it doesn’t seem like it will, so we’ll be able to have a good strong run there. And then obviously with the Whelen Modified Tour on Saturday, running that race and trying to win it, the Nationwide car, I’d say our expectations are to run strong.”
The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion made his Nationwide Series debut at New Hampshire last year, finishing 24th.
“We ran pretty well last year, and we were a little conservative,” he reflected. “We wanted to pretty much run all the laps, and a rookie mistake on my part trying to charge into the box for the pit stop, I slid through, and then we ran out of fuel with three to go in the Lucky Dog spot. I think this year we’re going to be a little bit more aggressive as far as the setup goes, and with Zach McGowan, crew chief and me, we’ve been real good. We’ve been texting back and forth looking at notes and just really trying to be prepared for this race. I’m definitely pretty excited, and I really can’t thank Tommy (Baldwin) enough for this opportunity.”
Preece adds that going into the weekend, his goal is to score his first career Nationwide Series top-10 finish, despite some people sayign that it’s a long shot for the underfunded team.
“I know the amount of work that’s gone into this race car, and Tommy and Zach and all the things we’ve been looking over from last year to this year and what we can improve on and what I can improve on, and I think it’s something realistic,” he explained. “But it’s the same goals as last year, also: Keep the car in one piece, don’t tear it up, finish every single lap of the race and just keep getting experience and keep running. I mean, you can’t gain experience if you’re out by lap 50 or 100. So we’re going to try to finish all the laps and have a good, strong run.”
Kicking off the weekend with Friday’s shootout, there is no doubt that Preece is going up against some of the top modified drivers with an interesting format that includes a pair of twin 20-lap features and drawing to determine the starting spot.
“The short runs like that are going to create for some awesome racing and a lot of fun, and obviously all the bonuses that come along with it, whether it’s if you have the fastest lap in the race or the most positions gained throughout the race,” Preece predicted. “It’s going to create for some excitement, and as long as everybody respects one another, because I know most of us are going to run the same car the next day, we shouldn’t have a problem. But I’m really excited for it; it’s a great opportunity that Whelen New Hampshire and NASCAR has presented for the modifieds, and we just have to take advantage of it and put on a show.”
Then with the modified event on Saturday at New Hampshire, Preece has it ranked high on list of “want to wins but not yet won” and says that it’s a very hard race to win.
“It’s something that you have to have the right place, the right time, the car to do it and everything, and we work so hard at it, and we’ve had a really good car last year in the July race,” Preece said. “We had a good car that was capable of it happening, but unfortunately we just didn’t have the right situation on the last lap, and I think we broke our primary motor in practice so that kind of put us down.
“I’m going to try everything I can. My team is going to try everything they can, and hopefully you’ll see us in victory lane, but I want to try to have a really strong run, try to get back up on the horse and try to gain some points on these guys so I can possibly try and repeat, but we’ve got some time to do this.”
The Hot 20 – Elder Gents and Past Winners Lead the Way to New Hampshire
If you want to make the Chase, maybe one should win at New Hampshire. Out of 43 drivers entered and scheduled to make up the field at Loudon this Sunday, a whopping 16 of them have won at New Hampshire. They include the only four-time winner, 47-year old Jeff Burton, slated to drive the 66 Toyota of Jay Robinson. Along side will be his team mate, 50-year-old Joe Nemechek and a winner there in 1999, driving the 87. Kids. The oldest driver at Loudon has never won there in 14 attempts, going back to 1993. At the age of 72, Morgan Shepherd will be there in Joe Falk’s 33 Chevy.
Among our hot 20, based on points and super-sizing the winner’s bonus from 3 to 25 points, a dozen have had the post-race bubbly shower here before. Jeff Gordon is our king of the hill and while both he and Jimmie Johnson both have three wins at Loudon, neither really do not need another one. In reality, a win means a Chase spot, and they are both in. Same goes for Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth probably does not need one and Ryan Newman is still sitting pretty, but the same can not be said for Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers or Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch is not even in out Hot 20 but he has a win, though the same cannot be said for Tony Stewart.
As much as I think this system best showcases which drivers have actually been the most relevant during the season, I doubt NASCAR will adopt it. If I thought I had that much influence, you would never see ESPN’s current crew call another race, but I do not. Plus, giving a Chase spot to a New Hampshire winner would mean adios to the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards, none of whom have won there. The kids, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson, obviously have not. Take the free pass for last Sunday’s Daytona win, and Aric Almirola drops from 10th in the official rankings, drops from 19th on my list, down to 21st and with little hope of making the Chase. Of course, my method eliminates the Chase, and I have a feeling that Brian France would not be terribly receptive to that argument.
I think it a shame that wins put Almirola and Kurt Busch into a Chase place at the expense of Biffle and Vickers. Still, you cannot ignore the excitement that a single victory can bring to the driver, his team, or the fans. Winning is not easy, so maybe the reward is justified. Maybe.
That said, here is a look at my Hot 20 as they prepare for battle in New Hampshire this Sunday.
Ps – Driver – Pts – Wins
1 – Jeff Gordon – 673 – 1
2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 668 – 2
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 662 – 3
4 – Brad Keselowski – 630 – 2
5 – Joey Logano – 590 – 2
6 – Carl Edwards – 587 – 2
7 – Matt Kenseth – 580 – 0
8 – Kevin Harvick – 558 – 2
9 – Kyle Busch – 546 – 1
10 – Ryan Newman – 534 – 0
11 – Paul Menard – 516 – 0
12 – Denny Hamlin – 515 – 1
13 – Clint Bowyer – 509 – 0
14 – Austin Dillon – 494 – 0
15 – Greg Biffle – 490 – 0
16 – Brian Vickers – 484 – 0
17 – Kyle Larson – 482 – 0
18 – Kasey Kahne – 482 – 0
19 – Aric Almirola – 474 – 1
20 – Marcos Ambrose – 472 – 0
